Highlights

1. The majority of respondents support a United Nations Security Council bid to establish a timeline to end the occupation.
2. Mistrust in both Fatah and Hamas is widespread.
3. The majority of respondents believe that Palestinians are farther from achieving their goal to establish an independent state, compared to two decades ago.
4. Marwan Barghouthi is the most popular leader.
5. If elections were held today, Mahmoud Abbas would win over Ismael Haniyeh and Khaled Mashal in head-to-head contests.
6. Respondents in Gaza are more supportive of Abbas, Fatah and Al Hamdallah than their counterparts in the West Bank.
7. The Hamas government and its leaders are locked in a close popularity contest with Fatah and its leaders among West Bank respondents.
8. Fatah remains the most popular political party among all Palestinians.

Introduction

The following are the results and analysis of the latest Arab World for Research & Development (AWRAD) national public opinion poll, focusing on presidential and legislative elections, as well as the performance of notable Palestinian leaders, political factions and government performance. The poll also focuses on the recent Palestinian bid to the United Nations Security Council to end the occupation.

The questionnaire was fielded December 30, 2014 to January 1, 2015. This period closely followed the UN Security Council’s rejection of the Palestinian bid to establish a timeline ending the occupation. It also coincided with the continued delayed payment of PA wages to civil servants and two field visits by the Unity Government to the Gaza Strip, four months after the cessation of the conflict in the territory. For this survey, 1,200 Palestinians were interviewed “face-to-face” in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. All socioeconomic groups are represented in the poll. For more details on the sample, please refer to www.awrad.org. The margin of error in this poll is ±3 percent. The survey was carried out by AWRAD researchers under the supervision of President, Dr. Nader Said-Foqahaa.

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